CMS assigns J-code for Pharmaxis ARIDOL Bronchial Challenge Test Kit

Pharmaxis, Inc. today announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has assigned a product-specific billing code, or J-code, for ARIDOL® (mannitol inhalation powder) Bronchial Challenge Test Kit.  The unique, product-specific billing code, J7665 (mannitol, administered through an inhaler, 5 mg), became effective on January 1, 2012.    

ARIDOL, the only dry powder bronchial challenge test approved for use in the United States, is used to assess bronchial hyperresponsiveness in patients six years of age and older who do not have clinically apparent asthma.  ARIDOL should not be used as a stand alone test to assess asthma or as a screening test for asthma, but as part of a physician's overall assessment of asthma. 

J-codes are used by providers to bill Medicare Part B, Medicaid and most private plans for drugs administered in physicians' offices and hospital outpatient settings. 

"With the ARIDOL-specific J-code in effect, office-based physicians who would like to use the dry powder bronchial challenge test and providers who currently use ARIDOL have a product-specific code to submit to payers which often increases the efficiency of the reimbursement process," said Stephen Beckman, President, Pharmaxis, Inc.  "In addition, the ARIDOL test protocol is now incorporated in the software of many leading spirometers, marking another important milestone for Pharmaxis."